There was an incident at our school last year in January when a sophomore boy jumped off a stairwell balcony. This happened before the first period, and I was in the study hall in my school’s commons/lunchroom.
I had to find out what happened from passersby talking to their friends. The teachers didn’t tell us what happened and told us not to discuss it. A couple of weeks or so after that incident happened, we all got an email saying the boy was in the hospital and was doing all right.
During that week, teachers and other school administrators said that we can talk to the counselors anytime but they won’t talk to us about what happened.
Censorship is a somewhat huge thing I noticed that happens a lot within Jackson High School. Something devastating happens, and students aren’t told a thing. This makes me not trust anything staff or high school administrators say to us.
Why can’t trained adults tell us what is happening but our other peers tell their friends about what happened and spread more anxiety? We spend nearly eight hours around our teachers, and for them to completely shut us down after we ask what happens is appalling.
I want transparency, action and communication from my high school. Half of us are adults, and it upsets me that we're kept in the dark. Personal information can be withheld, but a brief explanation of incidents is crucial.
If a sixth grader is taught to stop suicide, why can't teachers inform 14- to 18-year-old students about what is happening internally? The contradictions of this are frightening. From what I understand, a sixth grader is held responsible for other people who are contemplating suicide, but high schoolers are left blind and clueless about the rest of their peers.
Nadia Carter, Jackson Township
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Letter to the editor: Administrators must tell students more about incidents at school
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